


Always

by IAmStoryteller



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Captain Marvel (DC), Justice League - All Media Types, Robin (Comics), Shazam (Comics)
Genre: Bruce was a cop and adopted a whole bunch of kids, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Gen, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Major Use of Strikethrough, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Pining, Supeheroes Don't Exist, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-15 14:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4610895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmStoryteller/pseuds/IAmStoryteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally done during last year's Camp NaNoWriMo.  It has been sitting on my computer unfinished for a year, so I rearranged things to make it a fanfiction.</p><p>Billy leaves for a world trip.  Damian takes it hard.</p><p>All through letters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_** Always ** _

_“If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together…there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…I’ll always be with you.”_  
-By A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

_Chapter 1_

June 2nd  
Dear Damian,

You are probably still angry with me. I understand. I am sorry that I did not say goodbye. But the last time we talked you broke up with me. I know you do not take goodbyes well, My Love. Perhaps once this letter reaches you, your anger will have died down and you could even write a response. Letters are old school, I know, but my crazy boss has her rules and you know how she gets when someone does not listen to her. (Even though I tend not to listen to her and have to fetch her out of trouble…) My boss you do not like because you are a ridiculous jealous person and you know full well that I have no interest in her, besides professionally.

We’re in Mexico City. The boss lady, our language expert Nico and are staying in a rather unfortunate hotel. I never knew how badly Mexico City had pollution. It is almost as worse as the stink of New Jersey, good old Jersey how I miss thee. The boss lady has some connections with some local Mexican historians and for some reason, she wants information on the city that was here before Mexico City. 

The food on the other hand is amazing and how could Taco Bell actually pass as Mexican food or any of the Tex-Mex places in the states. I watched this old woman made the tortilla from scratch. Sometimes, certain people are just too beautiful when they make amazing food. (Yes, I know you shouldn’t eat food from random people far away from the town I grew up in. Stranger danger and all that jazz, but it was SO. WORTH. IT.)

The capital of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan is apparently going to be important in the book that the boss lady is writing. She has not yet let me in on her super-secret idea for the best series of books ever. But I’m just the researcher and doing all the leg work for her. What do I know? She’s the genius writer. I know she hadn’t written a book since her debut series ended three years ago and well, she is trying to get her flow back. I know you think that it was a stupid idea to follow her all over the world on this ‘Inspiration Trip’ but the world is a far more fascinating place than little old New Jersey.

I really wish that you were here with me but I know you want to finish the police academy and join your cop siblings on the force. Justice will always be your first love.

After a few days we will be going to somewhere in Bolivia, don’t know which city she’s dragging me to, at least Nico has a good sense of humor about it. He keeps calling me and him, the boss lady’s love triangle, just without the love and the nonsense that goes with it. (You know what I’m talking about. If I could send you my blank stare I so would).

DO NOT try to call my phone because it’s been kidnapped by the boss lady. DO NOT even try to email me anything. She took my baby away from me and I’m going through serious withdrawals issues. It would like you losing your IPod.

(Cringes, you would murder someone for your IPod. Remember when you let me borrow it and my sister accidentally took it instead of hers. You didn’t talk to me for two weeks. Weirdo).

I will try to write to you, even if you don’t respond so you know that I’m okay and not lost in the big, wide world.

Seriously, please write back, I miss you,  
Your Beloved One  
William

June 6th  
Dear My Beloved William,

(I hope that this reaches you while you are in Mexico City, Beloved, if not I am writing this for no reason).

YOU ARE FREAKING BIG JERK. I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY LEFT ME WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE TO ME. 

I wrote that in all caps because you need to know how pissed I am with you right now. Yes, I calmed down a little bit but I still go into my brooding mode when one of my idiot siblings mentions you. I hope you know that just because I am writing back to you, does not mean anything concerning the relationship. You left with _that woman_ , even though I told you that she was just using your beautiful mind. 

You are still my beloved and that won’t change.

I have you know that Colin is trying to set me up on blind dates and that I am actually going on them. (He’s my best friend and he means well, because he knows how much I need to NOT wallow in self-pity because that is never a good thing with me). The people that Colin had been choosing for me are absolutely wonderful and perfect matches. Colin knows me so well. AND even though, I know that won’t make you jealous because you don’t get jealous about anything in the world. Sometimes, your sunny disposition of the world, I hate so much.

Still, it is good to hear from you. Please keep writing, just so I know that you are okay and not being molested by that woman. I am serious. Nico better not be seducing you either, he’s a creep, despite his brilliance with languages.

The police academy is not challenge to me. I still am at the top of the class in all areas. I will put Richard to shame with my abilities. Just because he was the first in the family to be a police officer he thinks it’s his duty to impart knowledge on me. Father still loves Richard the best and nothing you can say can convince me, otherwise. Mother called, so Father had been in tizzy for a while now.

Graduation is soon, I hope you know that you are missing one of my greatest achievements. You know how I hate being surrounded by complacent idiots, which most of the cadets are…

Anyway, Mary is doing well and I suspect that she’s dragging me off to dinner every three days to try and look after me for you. Freddy and Mary got back together, so I will be the overprotective sibling to Mary in place of you until you come to your senses and come back home. Freddy is behaving for the most part, but I will beat him up for you if he makes Mary cry again. I always thought that your sister was who I should have fell in love with, she’s the girl next door. At least that was what Cassandra and Stephanie keep calling her. I think my two sisters are planning to break up Mary and Freddy and then set me up with Mary.

It would be awkward and it would never work between Mary and I like that, besides you would still over overprotective sibling on me. I know how much Mary means to you. She’s important to me too. 

Despite the daily annoyances in my life, ~~I miss you and I want you to come home and be with me again, please come back and stop being distracted by that woman because she’s doesn’t love you like I do,~~ I don’t miss you and hope you’re happy.

Do not eat food from strange people on the streets of Third World countries anymore,  
Your Love  
Damian

June 15th  
Dear Damian,

(I got your letter the day we were leaving Mexico City, what luck!)

Oh my God, you are going on blind dates? That’s the funniest thing I have heard in ages. Colin is truly a genius to get you to do that. You hate most people, so how’s meeting strangers for the first time on a date? How many have you gone on? I hope someone catches your eye, since you are free from our relationship. Colin does know some fun and interesting people. You need to branch out and meet new people.

We are in Bolivia now. El Alto to be specific. It’s supposed to be a growing urban center. She keeps bringing us to cities (and I really wish you would stop being so Sherlockian about my boss Cissie. She’s not Irene Alder for cripes’ sake). (And Nico is not a creep, he’s just eccentric, seriously. Sometimes I think you are afraid that I’m going to be kidnapped by everyone). I still do not know why she’s having us run around Central and South America but she’s the genius writer so I hope she knows what she is doing. 

Bolivia is a nice country, though. It’s most in the sixties all the time, which is why I’m loving it. And it’s called the Rebel City. Did you know that there’s these women called ‘cholitas’ (I don’t know what it means, but it’s what they are called). Since traffic is absolutely worse than the Parkway during July, these cholitas are actually Aymara women dressed in their traditional multi-layered skirts and bright vests. They are the traffic cops. It is a super big deal, breaking all kinds of gender barriers in Bolivia. These women are even going on television and doing all sorts of cool things. Aymara are the indigenous nation of the Andes and the Altiplano regions. They were under Inca rule and then the Spanish rule. There’s like 2 million of them living in three different South American countries, and they do make distinctions between Bolivian Aymara, Chilean Aymara and Peruvian Aymara. At least there are some interesting things to see and do here. 

(New Jersey’s climate is like bipolar all the time, so maybe one day I will come back and take you on a trip to some of the places I have been).

After Bolivia we are going to Peru, don’t know where specifically yet, but the boss lady is excited about it. Nico’s been complaining about the lack of five-star hotels, Cissie and I are kind of cheap, but yeah…

I know you are going to complain that I spent most of the letter on facts about Bolivia and yes, I know I am a major geek.

~~But you love me anyway.~~

By the way, salteñas are amazing. And yes, I ate them from a street food vendor. SO there! I will eat all the amazing food from all the strange people off the streets that I want!

Keep looking after Mary and Freddy. I know how they get. Right now they are in lovey-dovey zone, but then, they start fighting because they spent too much time together. They are so much better as friends.

Tell Colin to keep being a good friend to you. I should write to him.

~~Maybe that was wrong with us. We’ve been attached at the hip since we were seven. This is a good thing for us. The separation I mean. Maybe when I come back home, we can give it another go.~~

I am sorry that I will miss your graduation, I know how hard you worked, but I know how good you are going to be,  
William

June 21st  
Dear My Beloved,

Cecelia Summerly, _that woman_ (I will call her that as long as I want to), is in love with you. You are not going to tell me otherwise. She may be three years old than the both of us, but you’ve known her since your orphanage days. She had been trying to break us up for years and she finally did it. You let her. ~~take you away me because you are so ridiculous with your grand world-traveling plans and your writing and her writing and why does this still hurt?~~ She’s evil, I am telling you this. She has nefarious plans (yes, _nefarious plans_ , and no I am not paranoid…nefarious, Beloved, nefarious) to defile your innocence. Your Innocence, Beloved, I am not joking.

I am not jealous. You think I’m always jealous concerning _that woman_ , but I’m not. ~~I worry about you.~~ Really. You are too nice sometimes and let people get away with everything. I swear if someone asked you for the shirt off your back you would give it to them! ~~You are so far away from me that I can’t protect you.~~

I graduated yesterday from the Police Academy, I hope you know. Top honors and all that. Now I am a beat cop. They gave me a car, but no partner yet. My route, you are never going to believe this, is our old stomping grounds. Mary, Freddy, and Colin are all laughing because remember when we were nine and we declared that the Angel Sanchez Park and the three block radius around it was our kingdom. How much did me and you argue over who got to be king? In the end, Mary was king and we were the All-Powerful Council. The things that you came up with to amuse us. 

~~You are the only person that can make me smile.~~

Remember Zatanna and John Constantine and how they would play the Kingdom game with us and they were the wizards that the King and his Council depended on. Their magic shop hasn’t been doing so well. It was robbed just after you left. I couldn’t believe it. Jason had been put on the case, but he found nothing so far. Jason is pissed that he cannot find the culprits, especially since they hit the bar where Miss Renee Montoya used to give us free food (she’s a nice woman, I like her). Richard and Jason had been arguing a lot lately, annoying me. Timothy hadn’t been helping matters and he and I got into a fist fight again, much to Father’s disappointment. I can never do anything right for him. 

Mother visited and brought a present. She bought me a backup gun. Father was furious. Even though all of us kids are cops now, the guns get locked up before we entered the house. Father does not like guns or the fact that we are all in danger as police officers all the time.

By the way, Mother is setting me up on a dinner date with a friend’s daughter. I don’t want to go because I know Mother wants me to get married soon. It’s not like the blind dates that Colin sets me up on, because it’s supposed to be not so serious ~~and keep my mind off of you.~~

The park is housing gangs now. Part of me hates that they are encroaching on our Kingdom, Beloved, but you know, we haven’t played that game since we were fourteen. Still the park is ours.

~~Always will be.~~

Stop eating food from strange people off the streets, seriously, you can get poisoned and then kidnapped and then defiled and then I will come and find you, kill the idiots that hurt you and then go to jail, you don’t want that to happen, do you?  
Damian

June 24th  
Dear Damian,

I can’t believe you still remember when we played Kingdom. I loved that game. We never finished the game. We left off when Colin and Freddy were having a revolt against Mary. You and I were on the run from the rebels, together. Hah. Those were good times. It’s sad about Zatanna, Constantine and Miss Montoya. I hate when bad things happen to good people. Jason is smarter than anyone gives him credit for (and the fact that Richard outshines everyone can’t be helped), so I believe that your brother will figure it out. I am glad that it’s you that looks after our old stomping grounds. You can be the sheriff during the revolution days! 

By the way, you know how much I hate the word NEFARIOUS?! You used it like four times in your letter. Not cool. Cissie is not evil. She’s not in love with me. I don’t believe you. You are jealous of her. I didn’t chose her over you, I never will. I needed to get out of the town and see the world. I felt trapped, you know, and not by you. I just wanted to have an adventure.

And I so am.

Cissie got arrested when we landed in Peru. It was not fun. Nico and I had to say at the US Embassy in Lima while the ambassador tried to smooth things over with the Peruvian authorities. We still do not know why she was arrested? She did not have anything illegal with her. Maybe something happened with her visa application or something in the States changed. I am making calls to the States with my now-returned phone, to lawyers and the like. The Ambassador tells me that things will be straightened out soon. We are a schedule and Cissie hates breaking her schedule. Nico is loving living at the embassy. He was with his people as he said. 

Lima is a nice city. It’s one of the most important cities in South American, home to many businesses. There’s still some colonial architecture around and there’s the Historic Center of Lima, a world heritage site. The churches here are really beautiful and amazing. The Sanctuary of Las Nazarenas is amazing. It was built in 1771 and then again after an earthquake in 1746. It’s the site of the Catholic procession of the Lord of Miracles, known as Senor de los Milagros, from October 18th to the 28th (so does that girl in that DC Comic who’s the third Blue Beetle’s sister’s name mean Miracle then?)

I am calling you today, tonight, whatever. 

I just really want to hear your voice. 

I really and truly miss you, even if you’re a paranoid control freak, just like your father that’s why you think you’re not good enough because you two are both alike and I know he loves you (remember when we started dating and I had to sit through his three hour lecture on how to treat you right? God, remember your siblings…Your Mother was the worst, but she wants you to be happy so go on the date and don’t freak the girl or guy out, okay?),  
Your Beloved One  
William


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot development I suppose.

_Chapter 2_

July 3rd  
Dear My Beloved William,

I had been busy lately and had no time to write back to you. It was good to hear your voice again. By the way, I will use the word nefarious as much as I want to, thank you very much because I can imagine the annoyed look on your face and getting you bent out of shape, how rare it is, is amusing to me. By the way, you use the word ‘nice’ way too much. The criminal that is stealing from the neighborhood is still on the loose and Jason just continues to get madder and madder every day he did not catch the thief. He is fighting and arguing with everyone, including myself.

I am proud to say that I did not try to drown him in the pool…again.

In other news, my patrol area is a nuisance. Truly. I pull over speeders twenty times a day. What the bloody hell do they not understand about it being a residential neighborhood? I swear and then, there are wanna-be gang bangers running around doing nothing but loitering and littering. Littering. I dislike litterers as much as I find loiterers annoying. I do not know why they do not just let me scare the people more, with threats of tickets and calling someone’s mother.

I went on the date that Mother set up for me. The person in question was specifically hand-chosen by my grandfather, which is awkward for me. Remember that one Christmas where Grandfather and Mother visited and my Father and Grandfather broke out into a fist fight while Mother accidentally set the curtains on fire. And Timothy started packing to run away and leave our insane family. You were sitting there, just smiling at the scene, while putting out the fire and convincing Timothy not to leave. The rest of them were not helping. Patience of the saint, patience of the saint. Grandfather picked a lovely person. She’s well-educated, in medical school, works a full-time successful job at her parents’ business, in the meantime. She’s very beautiful too. And funny. She understood that I am not ever going to be over you. At least, she was forced on the blind date too.

We had dinner in the City at a very fancy restaurant (paid for by my Mother and Grandfather, because Father does not have that kind of money, seriously they think they can buy my love). (There was a reason I chose to stay with Father over Mother). Mother means well, but sometimes she can be a bit overzealous in matters concerning me and Father. She still loves Father, that I know, but Father is still a complicated and stubborn man and lots of things happened between them over the years.

Father’s two former steady girlfriends that had not been scared away by myself and my siblings, for instance, would have made Father a good wife. Father is a stubborn, control freak. Thank God he’s not Police Chief anymore. Thank you for forced retirement. 

Still, Father was not pleased about the date, muttering something about Old World arranged marriages going awry and the like. Father still thinks that we are together. I haven’t told anyone but Colin and of course, Mary knows and that means Freddy knows too. My siblings are suspicious about things, but they have their own messed up love lives to handle.

Jason’s been flirting with Richard’s first love Kory. I swear, the two of them just like to fight over everything. 

Before I stop writing… _That woman_ got arrested? That is the best thing I ever heard in years. Yes, read that sentence again. She must be up to something and not telling you. Are you sure that she’s not evil, because my theory may yet to prove correct? At least you are safe in the U.S. Embassy for the time being, until _the woman_ can connive her way out of the jail in Peru. Can’t you and Nico just leave her there and come home?

I am not a control-freak, just a planner and worrier, and if I am a control freak, you are an eternal optimist,  
Damian

July 7th  
Dear Damian,

I am still in Lima, living at the U.S. Embassy. Cissie is out of jail. That is very mean and petty of you to wish her to remain in jail. She is not evil. I keep telling you that you are imagining things. In fact, do you think so poorly of Cissie that you imagine her a B-class movie villain? Does she have an evil laugh? What possible motivations could she have to be evil?

And I don’t use the word nice so much, but as long as you don’t use the word that annoys me the most, I will cease using the word that annoys you. 

Since Cissie is out a jail (it was not so much jail but a holding cell in one of the many police stations), but not in the clear quite yet, so we are staying in Lima until further notice from the US Ambassador to Peru. She’s a sweet woman. Brilliant and lovely too. She’s just a little weird. She used to take care of me in the orphanage. She still donates to them, you know. 

Anyway, once we are done with everything in Peru, we’re renting a car, driving to the coast and taking a ship to the Galapagos Island and stay there for a few days before returning to mainland South America’s Peru. After that, I am not sure where we are going, but it should be something fascinating and amazing.

Wonderful.

I can’t wait to see the Galapagos Islands, you know, it is so important in science and all. I will send you some postcards from the gift shops there. ^__^

Yes, I used an emoticon. At least I am not using internet and texting slang. Heaven forbid, I use the horrible language that is used on twitter. The butchering of the English language should be a crime, punishable by forcing the offenders to watch reruns of 1950s and 1960s shows and nothing but those shows!

Since we are in Lima, the three of us decided to visit some of the tourist attractions here. The Larco Museum, located in Pueblo Libre (a term used for the district of the Lima Province, it means Free Town, which is totally and completely neat, do you not just love learning these factoids about other places. I think I am going to have to visit Lima again when not with Cissie and Nico because they talk way too much, like they know everything. Sometimes, it is just a good thing to enjoy something just for the sake of enjoying it) is home to various Pre-Columbian artifacts and trinkets. The building is an eighteenth century vice-royal building and it was built over a seventh century Pre-Columbian pyramid. It is privately owned. I loved it. Everything was in chronological order. It was so beautiful. It even had erotic pottery. Amazing, am I right? Peruvian Pre-Columbian culture is an interesting thing. 

The trip was soiled by a black-out and something was stolen, so CS got arrested again. She is most definitely suspected of trafficking stolen museum artifacts. I hope that they do not think that about me. I really do not want to go to jail or even a holding cell.

So your date went well then? She sounds like a good person. I bet she’s also got the patience of a saint. You should go out with her again. I think you could hit it off with her. It would nice for you, honestly. I just want you to be happy. It might even make your Mother not wish me a horrific end.

At least this time you did not complain about my too trusting nature with people and food again,  
Your Beloved William

July 11th  
Dear My Beloved,

Mary made me put in a note that she wrote for your eyes only. Please read it and send her a response, it was what she requested of me.

_Dear Billy,_

_I am worried about you. I feel something bad is going to happen to you and I am not going to be there to protect you. If you and a certain someone would cease_ _your ridiculous behavior concerning your relationship, you could be home and traveling every once in a while. I do not know the details of what happened,_ my twin, _but I swear, I wish that you come home and understand why Damian needs you. There are dates. Dates. Colin and his Mother are finding_ wonderful and amazing _people to lure Damian away from you. You two are Soulmates that I am sure of and you cannot make me believe otherwise._

_Love,_  
_Your awesome sister (who loves you very much)_  
_Mary_

___Back to the matter at hand, are you sure that Cissie is not up to a nefarious (Nefarious. Nefarious. Nefarious. Evil. Evil. Evil) plot or several? Perhaps she is trying to take over the world? Keep an eye on her for the sake of humanity, Beloved. Cissie got arrested again? Yes, amazing. I would someday like to see the Larco Museum. ~~I enjoy ancient erotic pottery.~~ Ignore that last sentence scribbled out. Seriously. DO not try to read it._ _ _

___You may right about Cissie possibly being under watch about being an antiquities thief. Perhaps such things are very peculiar. Many countries are very overprotective, with good reason, of artifacts from their archeological past. You know full well that such evil and nefarious thing have happened in Egypt in the early part of the twentieth century and for years all across the world. It is a rather distressing thing. Please be careful._ _ _

___Also be wary of strangers. A young girl (last name Ramirez, first name Marigold) in our town has been missing for a couple of days. We put out an Amber Alert, to no avail. The chances of her being alive are very little after the first 48 hours. The whole town is up in arms and ready to tear the town down in order to find the girl. She’s only twelve. This is rather upsetting. To make matters worse, the robber may be the perpetrator. Jason’s been getting heat from the higher-ups to close the case soon, but he and his partner Roy Harper are fresh out of leads for the moment. The robber struck two more business, Mr. Fawcett’s ice cream shop and the mom-and-pop store across the street from the park._ _ _

___There is other distressing news. This time is comes from my own house._ _ _

___As you know since I was young I have walked in on my brothers and sisters with their various beaus many of times, scarring me for life. ~~(Thankfully they have never walked in on me and you, but that is because we have a chaste and beautiful relationship).~~ I have never liked any of the girls that Jason brought home. No one does._ _ _

___Remember the first one? She was a year older than him. She smoke, drank, and cheated on him. Then there was when Jason hit on my mother. Very gross. Most of the girls were not good enough for him. Father had conniption after conniption with Jason and his various girlfriends. My brothers all have things for older women. Richard and Timothy have usually good taste in girlfriends. Cassandra doesn’t date much. Stephanie…could do better. But Jason loved to bring home the ‘bad girls’ just to upset Father._ _ _

___But this was too much this time._ _ _

___I found Jason kissing Mary Elizabeth (whom everyone else calls Bette) (Yes, the person that you and I both adore) in the shed. I am never attempting to get the pool supplies out of the shed ever again. I screamed profanity at them both. It took twenty minutes but they finally got me to agree not to tell anybody. Naturally you are not included in the ‘anybody’ group. Especially since I really have to tell somebody. Colin is a big blabbermouth, so I can’t tell him._ _ _

___My life is distressing me, Beloved._ _ _

___Please be safe, do not get arrested because of that woman,  
Your Love_ _ _

___July 18th  
Dear My Love,_ _ _

___My response to my sister’s note is included and tell her just to write me her own letters instead of bothering you._ _ _

_Dear My Awesome Twin Sister,_

_______You always worry about me. But I worry about you. And everyone else at home without me. I really miss you, sister mine. However, I am not coming home until I finish whatever book that Cissie set out to write. My relationship, however, is none of your business, and I do not want to talk to you about it. I am glad that Damian is meeting new people and being sociable. Do you know hard that is for him? Colin will protect Damian, as will everyone else. Damian and I are probably Soulmates, but that does not mean anything and you know it._  


_______Butt out,_  
_Your Twin_  
_Billy_

___Marigold Ramirez is missing? Didn’t we go to school with a bunch of kids with the last name Ramirez? I know that Angelo has a sister. Angelo was the goalie of the soccer team at school. You remember him? He was beautiful on the court. I hope it’s not his sister. I will pray for her safe return and for the police to catch the creep. I do not like it when things like this happen. I know it happens all over the world and that truly depresses me. I am an eternal optimist as you tell me I am, but sometimes, the world is a scary place._ _ _

___Anyway, Cissie was released by the authorities, cleared of the issue at hand, but it was most definitely about antiquities stealing and dealing. Apparently there had been a lot of South American museums hit by various groups, stealing and then selling the items on the Black Market to rich benefactors. Cissie was cleared. She was cleared._ _ _

___(YOU USED THE WORD, LOVE)._ _ _

___(Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice.)_ _ _

___So there (I wish you could see my tongue sticking out at you. Nico thinks I am being weird and going through withdrawal from you and my laptop, which I miss almost as much as I miss you)._ _ _

___Enough of the sentimentality. I will be careful, though. ~~What could go wrong on a boat in the Pacific?~~ I TAKE IT BACK. I TAKE IT BACK. PRETEND I NEVER WROTE THAT! First rule of main characters, do not tempt fate, never ever!_ _ _

___So…You caught Jason. Your adopted second older brother? That you argue with constantly but secretly respect? With Bette. Your father’s cousin? Who is the same age as Richard and who is his best friend? Bette, who used to babysit us all? Bette, my first crush? That Bette. Because I do not know any other Bette._ _ _

___Jason and Bette._ _ _

___~~WHAT IN THE NAME OF BLUE BLAZES DID I MISS? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? OH MY GOD!~~ _ _ _

___I wonder if they are happy together, because that would be okay. They are not blood related like you and Bette. Only a piece a paper makes them a family. It’s…still…so awkward. Just be nice to them. Maybe they are in love with each other. Bette does have terrible taste in guys usually and Jason usually has terrible taste in women._ _ _

___It would be funny in the ironic way that they might be meant for each other._ _ _

___Nice. I hope everything works out,  
William_ _ _

___July 22nd  
Dear Beloved,_ _ _

___(I told Mary what you said. She said something not nice in response that I will not dignify by writing down)._ _ _

___So, Jason and Mary Elizabeth, I know, it is surreal. Jason is not speaking with me. I cracked his robbery case. I caught the guy streaking in the middle of the night. He was trying to steal a garden gnome. Some super-genius criminal, am I right? He was drunk off his success and gin, lots of gin. Idiot. Jason is so not speaking to me. He is giving with death glares that would make anyone but Father and Mother cower and it does. The police captain praised me and my quick thinking. It was a rather simple matter of being in the right place at the right time._ _ _

___(As far as I know, Jason and Mary Elizabeth’s thing is casual…)_ _ _

___My career is heading in the right direction but I did not want it to be at the expense of my brother. Jason really loves being a cop. I feel bad that I took that away from him._ _ _

___Cassandra is going undercover for a drug bust or something. No details can be known expect to those on the case, which is really annoying. But if anyone can take care of themselves, it is Cassandra. She is badass and perfection. Still, I will worry because undercover work can be very dangerous to the mind of the agent. And bad guys are not happy with undercover agents and if she is found out, she would be in danger. No one better endanger my sister needlessly._ _ _

___Stephanie got an offer from the FBI to go train at Quantico. She is going to take the offer. She had not been away from home ever and Father is worrying about Stephanie. Stephanie usually does well on her own but sometimes she can be reckless and stupid. Timothy is thinking about going with her, just to keep an eye on her. I do not like the idea of both Stephanie and Timothy being away from home, but as long as they can keep each other out of trouble._ _ _

___Like you suspected, Mary and Freddy broke up again. I spent last night at your place, comforting your sister. She was crying and she is an ugly crier. They were arguing over something stupid and then it got serious and Freddy broke up with her. She was rather distraught. I bought her ice cream and let her cry in my arms. She misses you. You need to get a phone again and call her. Call your sister, Beloved._ _ _

___I have already threatened Freddy with bodily harm and to stay away from Mary until she’s ready to be friends again._ _ _

___Again with my family, Mother visited. She wants me to see the nice woman I went on that date with, but then Father came home and then there was a staring contest. They spent twenty minutes yelling nonsense at each other, before Mother stormed away and Father stomped away to his study._ _ _

___Sometimes they are worse than any young couple. They still so in love each other. They are too stubborn to be healthy._ _ _

___Please come home, I cannot deal with the insanity of our families,  
Damian_ _ _


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things heat up...

_Chapter 3_

August 3rd  
Dear Damian,

We finally are heading to the Galapagos Islands. We had some trouble getting visas for Ecuador (since the Islands are a province of Ecuador) because of the problems in Peru, with Cissie getting arrested and all that jazz. We are going on a cruise ship with a bunch of tourists (what am I talking about? We are tourists too (cue eye roll)). The trip will take a while, but then the tour will last maybe three hours.

We are going to Baltra (or South Seymour) Island, one of the eighteen main islands of the Galapagos. It was once a United States Naval military base, which helped protect the Panama Canal, until after World War II. A few of the islands had United States military bases on them, actually. It was probably important for the United States dominance in the Pacific at the time. Do you not just love the reminder of the American Empire (which our country’s time in the sun will be called a hundred years from now, I am telling you this. We are a waning empire, but still an empire. Empire is a dirty term these days, along with colonialism. We call it commonwealths instead of colonies. Do you miss my picky things about history, my Love?). After the Second World War, The United States handed the island over to Ecuador. It is run as a provincial government, all the islands are one province. We could have flown into one of the two airports in Baltra but no, Cissie wanted the experience of the ship, so that’s where I am writing the letter, waiting for the ship to come and pick us up.

I am eating from a questionable Ecuadorian food vendor. His patacones are amazing and possible to die for if I am exaggerating (friend palatines with cheese, everything is good fried and with cheese. How American of me, am I right?)

The trip is so short because of the matter of conservation. Too many tourist could impact the environment which was be damaging to the vegetation and the creatures living on the islands. Conservation is an important matter. Remember the trip to Yellowstone in our sophomore year? It’s like that, but not. Teddy Roosevelt was a big supporter of conservation. But then again this was the man that loved to hunt rare and exotic creatures in South America and in parts of Africa. Teddy was a complicated man, as all men are.

And they say women are the most complicated creatures on the earth. Hah!

Perhaps all humans are complicated creatures. It is a novel concept. Anyway, Cissie has been in a mood since the trip to the Larco Museum. She keeps weird hours and she’s on the phone a lot which is completely unfair since she stole my phone and laptop, along Nico’s phone and laptop. Perhaps I should keep a better eye on her. She’s up to something chaotic. BUT NOT EVIL (OR BAD) OR THAT WORD THAT I HATE. I will not say that you are right about her. She is just an eccentric person. I am telling you that. Despite the fact her behavior is worrying me. Maybe she is home sick or something. Maybe she’s calling her adopted parents. It could be the reason why. Maybe she wants to go home and forget the trip. I hope not. I want to see what she has in store for her new book.

Regards to Cassandra. I hope she’s safe on her journey of busting criminals. Stephanie being trained by the FBI? That is a great thing for her. She always feels that that the rest of you outshine her in your Father’s eyes. At least Tim will go, but it really is Steph that looks after Tim. You know that he does not sleep or eat enough without someone forcing him. It is why he is so small and cute and cuddly looking. I am serious.

As for the matter with Jason, your big brother will get over it. The next thing that upsets him will override whatever anger he has towards you. Most likely Dick will be the target. Or perhaps Bette can take his mind off of matters. How’s that whole secret relationship between the two of them going? Still going? Or was it a one-time thing? Or a couple time thing? Who knows? The more I think about the more I think that they may be good together. Go figure, am I right?

Mary and Freddy broke up…again…for the eleventh time…what were they arguing about this time? I swear, sometimes, they are both dunderheads and deserve each other, but other times I want Mary to find another nice guy and move on from Freddy. Freddy may be a dear friend, but in all honesty, Mary and Freddy are just not good together anymore. When we were still in high school, yes, they were, which was why they got cutest couple in the yearbook, but college changed them. They really need to move past each other, still being friends, but leave the romance behind. I am upset that Mary is so upset. I heard in her voice when I snuck my phone. The poor thing…just make sure that she is eating and sleeping right. She will most likely throw herself into work.

I finally figured out part of the novel that Cissie is planning. It is a modern fantasy adventure of a character who is a descendant of someone important in history or whatever and set in the various places that we are visiting. I suppose she wanted to get the descriptions from the actual places instead of the internet. But I still think that she just wanted a vacation with me and Nico. She’s so funny.

You can handle the insanity of our family, we both are a part of that insanity, and I hope you know that,  
Billy

August 7th  
Dear Beloved,

Another girl went missing. We still have not found the young Ramirez girl. This time the girl is Rochelle Washington, a young African-American girl. Thankfully our town is very racially diverse, so resources are actually being poured into finding them. There is no doubt in the minds of my fellow officers that the girls were taken by the same person. This is rather distressing news. We are employing a curfew for anyone under eighteen unofficially as it were since we cannot actually force it. Parents are being rather protective, as it rightly should be. Even Father wants us home at a reasonable hour if we are not working. Naturally Jason is chafing against Father’s rules.

Stephanie is stalking some FBI profilers to get some help for the missing girls’ case. All police officers, even us beat cops, are working the case after hours. Jason, Richard, Father and I have been reinvestigating everything. Father is disturbed about this incident. There were two similar incidents in the town over the years.

One was just after World War II, I think in 1947 or something like that (Do you remember this from school, when we studied the town’s history? I am sure that you do), several children went missing. I think the total was four. All were young girls between the ages of twelve and fourteen years old, most dark haired and eye girls (since at the time the neighborhood was most white, let’s face facts…). They were kidnapped within a month of each other. Then, according to what Father told me, Jason and Richard that it just stopped after four months. The person and the kidnapped victims were never found. Obviously the villain and the victims are all dead by now, but if the kid were buried in town they would have eventually been dug up due to the construction homes and the rest of the town during the 1960s. Grandmother, Father’s Mother, lived in the town during that time and saved newspaper clippings, but Father had donated them to the local library for the historical archives, so I went and read them. Also I made copies, since Richard and Jason would never be seen in libraries. Sometimes, I swear, my brothers are idiots. All my siblings tend to be. I am a genius, after all.

The second incident was during the time when Father and Mother had first met. Father was a young detective and Mother was a private investigator for her Father, my Grandfather’s firm. They both worked the case when six young girls were kidnapped. It was the same trend. Each girl were between twelve and fourteen years old. They were all dark haired girls, expect one who was a blonde. They were a mixed group of white girls, African-American girls and the one girl from the only Native American family that moved to New Jersey from one of the Southwest reservations to our town. It was a half a year of torture according to Father. He even dug up his old notes and the police reports. None of the girls were ever found and the case went cold. I think that was the only blemish on my Father’s otherwise golden record. He even actually called Mother for her notes and the like. Naturally when a child is in danger, they get along enough to get something done. 

I am starting to think that the perpetrator is a copycat, a fan of the bad guy from the previous two cases. There are such strange people in the world. Jason is running down the alibis of known pedophiles and rapists in the town and the surrounding towns. Richard is trying to jog Father’s memory of the time before, so that will take a while. I have my own ideas, so I will investigate further. Don’t worry I will be careful.

Mary is still rather upset but she was so pleased to hear your voice. Thank you for sneaking a phone to call her. She had stopped crying. She is more in an anger mode. I have convinced her to go on a double date with me. She and Colin are going together, while I take Nessa, the woman that my Mother introduced me to. We’ve been out several times. It should be fun. We are going out to dinner. Nessa is rather a funny woman. I think I am starting to like her. She is a very beautiful woman with red hair and green eyes that sparkle in the moonlight not that we spend that much time together for me to notice that and the best thing is that reminds me nothing of you.

She is a medical student, in her residency at Princeton Medical Center. She is trying to be a diagnostician. That is her ultimate goal. She is a very patient person. She was wary of going out with me, but my Mother, bless her soul, talked me up. She knows about you and everything. It is not serious, my Beloved, honest, but it nice to be….nevermind. I do not think I should be telling you anyone this, is this too awkward for us? We have always been friends. And we have had relationships with others before we moved our relationship forward, but this is different now, is it not?

Unless you say it is okay, I will not write needlessly about Nessa. Agreed?

I hope your trip to the Galapagos Islands go well. Do send me a postcard or something. Take pictures. Certainly you should be allowed a camera. Sneak one in, and then tell that woman that it was necessary for the research. I look forward to hearing about it.

Must you taunt me with your recklessness and eat from street vendors, you know how much that bothers me, I do not want you to get poisoned, honestly Beloved, can you not do that, what if the person is nefarious and plotting?  
Your Love  
Damian  
I want to hear your voice again.

August 21st  
Email  
To: (THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN BLOCKED)  
From: (THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN BLOCKED)  
Subject: (NO SUBJECT)

Dear My Love,

I took my kidnapped laptop from CS. I needed to get this message to you fast. Snail mail was not cutting it. This may seem very strange coming from me but this is a necessary thing. First I must tell you about my trip to the Galapagos otherwise you will not understand what I am doing. Remember how we had trouble getting visas to Ecuador? I think I mentioned that, did I? I am pretty sure that I did.

So on the boat ride over to the islands were rather scary. We ran into very bad weather and the rest of the tour group were devious-looking. It was like something out of a comic book, you know the crime drama ones that we used to read when we young? So aside from the rather friendly crew, Nico’s bitching about having the runs (really did not need to right that. I am so sorry). I really am not thinking straight right now, and Cissie excitedly jumping up and down like an excited toddler on Christmas morning, and myself with my extreme patience with all the lunatics in the world, the five other people on the tourist group were unfriendly and skivvy. They spoke various languages. I convinced Nico to tell me what they were saying on the down low.

It was nothing good. Remember how Cissie kept getting arrested. I think that we are being tracked and possible used as patsies for a thieving group. I could just be adopting your paranoid, control-freak view of the world, but these people really crept me out. Cissie tried to get them into several conversations but were snubbed rather rudely. Anyway, so I told Cissie and Nico to stay clear of them.

Cissie and I got into an argument, she accused me of being influenced by you and your ramblings of a paranoid jerk. I naturally did not want to hear her insulting you. I know that the two of you never got along for reasons that I cannot possibly begin to understand. I really do not like that you two hate each other, but care about me, calling me your friend, well, in your case…nevermind. Not right now, I cannot do this.

Anyway, we got to the island after braving a storm, where we had to stay below deck. Which was cramped and kind of smelled, but beggars cannot be choosers. I keep rambling my Love. 

Baltra is a very arid place, but at least it was not cold. It is a rather flat island, that was what our tour guide said and I tuned out some of the important and science stuff that I was not concerned with at the moment. Anyway, I keep using that word, I am sorry, Dami, we visited some of the places with cacti and the like that are indigenous to the island. The creepy people were most definitely watching Cissie, Nico, and my reactions to things. There was a lot of grass. I can’t really remember things right.

So, I think what’s going on is more than that. I think Cissie discovered something that she was not supposed to and now we are in some kind of danger. I think it has to do with the book, because she finally told me and Nico about it. We are going back to Peru, to visit the Chan Chan archaeological site, one of the biggest pre-Columbian cities built. I do not know what we are going to find there. It has something to do with the Moche and the Chimu cultures. I do not know what is going really, I do not know anymore. We are going to Chan Chan soon. So we will be really off grid for a while. Send any letters to my apartment. I will send the letters, when I can find the time, to you and I will read the ones that you write when I get back home.

Really I want to hear everything I can about you. Write about Nessa. I am glad that you are finding someone special. I know that we have been through a lot together. I always want you to be happy. I am sorry. I am so sorry.

Write to me about everything. Tell me about the missing girls’ cases. All three of the cases. Work theories, even if I cannot answer them, it will help you process all the information, it is how you learned best in school. I do not want you to worry too much about me, because I can take care of myself. I will be fine. If things get too dangerous, I will take a plane straight home, I promise. I will drag Cissie and Nico if I have to, really.

I will call if I get my hands on a phone or I will try to send another email.

Please do not worry about me. DO NOT Tell Mary anything. Tell no one anything.

Be happy, My most wonderful and amazing Love in the world, my Soulmate,  
Your Beloved One  
Your Habibi

August 21st  
Email

To: (THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN BLOCKED)  
From: (THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN BLOCKED)  
Subject: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

Beloved,

How could you possibly not think I will not worry about you? You are not making any sense. When you do not make any sense, I know something is terribly wrong. I want you to come home as soon as you get this message. I am not joking. I will drop everything. I will come and find you and drag you home and make sure that you are safe. This is too dangerous. Please, I do not want to lose you. Please, I need you to come home to me in one piece and not in a bloody body bag.

_Habibi…please_

_Please, do not do this to me again._

I love you, I will always love you.

In any lifetime, in any world, in any reality, I would choose you, every time. 

_Please…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's missing girl case heats up  
> Billy runs into trouble

_Chapter 4_

September 1st  
Dear William,

You know this kind of makes me feel like I am writing a diary or a journal, since you are not even reading these now and perhaps you never will (I am a pessimist, what do you expect from me, Beloved?). What am I? A pre-pubescent girl in a bad 90s sitcom? This is what you make me do.

I am rightfully furious at you, with you. Every known word for anger is what I feel right now. Annoyance. Irritation. Fury. Rage. Resentment. Especially resentment. Ire. Wrath (which I feel I must tell you, you will face if I do not see you soon). I believe you provoke very strong emotions in me, because you think it is amusing to you. Honestly. I am so not happy right now.

YOU ARE FREAKING JACKASS. SOMETIMES I HATE YOU. SOMETIMES I WANT TO RING YOUR NECK. I REALLY WANT TO DRAG YOU BACK HOME, KICKING AND SCREAMING. THEN LOCK YOU IN A TOWER FOR A MILLION YEARS, SO YOU STOP DOING STUPID THINGS!!!

I have not heard from you since your email. Why have you not been sending me any letters? I will read them regardless of how angry I am with you. What am I writing? You are not even reading this. You make me insane, sometimes. You are making me lose my mind. Really. I should not be pining for you still. I will have you know, when you read this, whenever you get your ass back home, that Nessa and I are getting rather serious. We have been dating for a good two months. Everyone in my family likes her (now they all know that we have been broken up since you left). Mary and Freddy approve. Colin does too. Mother is thrilled and I think she may be making wedding plans. But I am nowhere ready for a commitment that much. Nessa made me smile. Her humor is sassy. I kind of like it. She is not afraid to call me out on my ridiculousness. I think the two if you will get along someday when you come home. I am sure that she will love you. Everyone does.

You have been the only one that I ever made me smile, before her. She is making me happy. I have not been happy since the months leading up to your departure. Nessa tells me that she would like to meet you or talk to you because something is definitely wrong with you to have left me all alone. 

I really like her. It is not love, perhaps not yet, perhaps never, but at least I am trying. I hope you are happy with that woman, sleeping in hotels and eating questionable food. I wish you were reading this right now.

Damian

September 10th  
Dear Dami,

I apologize for the worry and anger that I have induced in you. I know that you are cursing my existence, wondering why you bother with an idiot like me. You are completely justified in being angry with me. I know I did not make sense in my email, but I am certain that we are being stalked for some reason. It is truly disturbing me. Nico is getting fed up with this nonsense as he is calling it. Cissie wants us to keep pushing to her goals. I know you are using synonyms for anger right now. A cute little quirk of yours.

Anyhow, we left the Galapagos Islands after our tour trip on the same boat with the same creepy people and returned to Ecuador. We then had to get ready in order to return to Peru, this time without Cissie being arrested by the authorities. We headed to the Chan Chan city.

I read up on the cultures that used to live there. The Moche people were there from about the year 100 to the year 700 (Common Era, duh). They were a group of autonomous groups with a common elite culture. It was primarily an agricultural community, especially since they created very good irrigation canals for the diversion of water to their crops. It was a rather sophisticated culture, as depicted in their highly detailed pottery and gold work. The Moche were centered on the valleys of northern Peru, which included 250 miles of desert coastline and 50 miles inward. The Huaca del Sol, a pyramidal structure, was the largest pre-Columbian structure, but most of it was looted and destroyed by the Spanish in the 16th century. The nearby Huaca de la Luna was better preserved. Human sacrifice was used in the Moche culture, possibly torturing the sacrifices weeks before the rituals.

Scholars are not certain what lead to the collapse of the Moche culture. But the most likely culprit was the changing weather in the 6th century, due to flooding from melted glacier caps. With the flooding and the climate change, they lost faith in their religion which promised good weather and food through their human sacrifice rituals. Just recently in 2013 a female skeleton remain was found which told us that the Moche were ruled by a succession of priestess who acted as queens. All excavations have shown tombs with women only, not any men. That is kind of cool, isn’t it? Does it not seem that many cultures started as a woman-ruled society? 

I really hope you and Nessa, was that her name?, are getting along. I really want you to be happy,  
Your Beloved Still?  
Billy

September 11th  
Dear My Beloved (yes, still),

I read your letter. I do not accept your apology until you come home and I see you safe and sound, but you will assume that I did since you are not getting my letters (you jerk). When you read this, you will see that I still am mad at you.

Since you bored me with useless information on the Moche, which I really did not need to know to make my life complete, honestly, I will be writing down some spastic things about the missing children cases. I will start with reviewing the facts of the first cases in the late 1940s.

THE FIRST MISSING PERSONS CASE THAT INVOLVED A SIMILAR MOTIVATION OF THE DARK HAIRED AND YOUNG GIRLS:

Victim Number One was Mary Richmond.

Description…She was a long black haired and brown eyed twelve year old girl. She was short for her age. She was wearing faded sundress, with black shoes and white frilly socks.

Last Seen Where, With, When…She was last seen with her older brother. He was supposed to watch her that Sunday afternoon. He was the 15 year old Roger Richmond. He was a black haired and brown eyed young man. He was reported taking her to the park. He ran into some friends and left his sister playing on the swings. He forgot that she was not allowed to cross the streets by herself yet and when the street lights started to go on, she probably headed home herself when she kidnapped.

Suspects…None

Victim Number Two was Grace McFitzpatrick.

Description…She was a medium-length brown haired and brown eyed twelve year old girl. She tall for her age. She was slightly more developed than the others. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt that were hand-me downs from her older brother, who was in the Army at the time.

Last Seen Where, With, When…She was last seen with her best friend Kevin Harper at the park. Kevin Harper was a blonde haired and blue eyed twelve year old boy that lived next door to Grace. He claimed to go over to Mrs. MacAvoy’s house to use the bathroom, just for a minute and then Grace was just gone. He searched for her, when he could not find her, he got Mrs. MacAvoy to call her mother. 

Suspects…at first it was thought that Kevin and Grace got into a fight and he hit her and hid her body, but that was dumped after the first day, other than that no viable suspects

Victim Number Three was Laura Black.

Description…She had a short black hair and brown eyes. She was fourteen years old and underdeveloped for her age. She was wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt, and sneakers. She was also short for her age.

Last Seen Where, With, When…She was last seen with her father at the park. They spent the Saturday on errands. Her father told the story that he was talking with another father and took his eyes off his daughter only for a moment. Then she was gone.

Suspects…Mr. Black was the only suspect, but that was ruled out.

Victim Number Four was Sarah Jensen.

Description…She was a black haired and brown eyed thirteen year old girl. She was wearing her Sunday Mass clothes.

Last Seen Where, With, When…She was last seen at the town’s only Catholic Church’s park with her mother and every other person at the Mass that Sunday. She got lost in the crowd, according to the mother.

Suspects…None

Conclusions…Any kind of park was the hunting grounds. The weekends were mostly the time when the girls were taken.

Thank you. This helped.  
Damian

September 14th  
Dear Dami,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am sure that you are doing well. I am using well a lot are I not? I hope you found those two girls safe and sound. We are in Chan Chan still, traveling back and forth between the archaeological dig site and Trujillo. We are staying in a poor hotel for the time being. I still feel like I am being watched all the time. It is a creepy feeling. I saw those people from the tour to islands again. I am sure that we are being watched.

Well I should get back to telling you a little about the culture of Chan Chan. After the Moche culture collapsed, the Chimu culture rose in 900 Common Era and lasted until the Incan ruler Tupac Inca Yupanqui led a military campaign and conquered Chimu around 1470, which was about fifty years before the Spanish arrival in the area. It was in fact Spanish chroniclers that recorded accounts of Chimu culture from the people that survived the conquest. Chimu culture was born out of the Moche culture, according to archaeological evidence. An interesting comparison between the Chimu and the Inca was that the Chimu worshipped the moon and the Inca worshipped the sun. The Chimu thought the sun to be the destroyed, which ironically speaking, it kind of was for them. They used common objects for their offerings in religious rituals. Pottery was their forte, especially the monochromatic kind (Black and white). The rulers practiced split inheritance which accounted for the large complex of Chan Chan, which had no unified plan or anything. Most of the population lived on the outskirts of the city in barrios with simple dwellings.

So, Cissie and her book. This is her summary at the moment. “[Main Character Named Undecided as of yet] goes on a rip-roaring adventure of finding oneself in the uncertainty of the world that surrounds us. [Main Character] travels through various parts of the South American continent, tracking [his or her] cultural inheritance, only to run into a few problems. One is the Peruvian government, who is hiding something. Second is a group of close-minded archaeologists; they do not like [him or her] poking around dig sites. Third is a mysterious person stalking [him or her].”

I am not sure about it. I am sure that if she found out that I told, she would have a conniption. 

Oh well.  
Keep well,   
Billy

September 18th   
Dear William,

I received your letter and once again you bore me with facts about dead cultures that I could care less about, you know this about me. I want to know how you are doing because I know when you start babbling about such things you are hiding something from me. I can even tell that through your writing. You are my best friend, after all. Why do you cause me such grief? 

As for Summerly’s book summary, why would you think I give a rat’s ass about her and her life’s work? There is no love lost between Summerly and me. I am telling you that she has been after you since you had that growth spurt when we were sixteen. Because everybody noticed. And I mean everybody. I did.

She is three years older than us. You knew her from when you were in the orphanage, from before we even met. You two were best friends, despite the age difference. I know how much she means to you, which never failed to irritate me. You have a connection that no one can understand, but that does not mean that she is the greatest person in the world. She is as selfish and conniving…and nefarious.

Sorry, I really do not mean to take out my frustration on you or her. Another young girl went missing. We had thought that her father had taken her (a child custody thing), but we were wrong. The father was in Atlantic City with a solid alibi. 

The girl is Kesha Reynolds, half-Irish, half-Libyan. She is thirteen years old, dark hair and eyes. She was at the park. I told Father about the theory of the park and the weekends and he told me he already seen that connection and it was a no-go. I can never do anything right for that man. Mother, however, praised me for working on the case on my own time. She really wants me to forget being a police officer and join her private eye firm.

Mother was adamant. She is just worried about me.

She wants to kill you by the way.

My mother is thinking of tracking you down and killing you along with that woman,  
Damian (snickers, you are so in trouble)

September 25th  
Dear Dami,

Nico bailed (he went ‘Ok, sorry, bye!’ with an irritating wave and everything). He just up left me and Cissie in a country where we do not speak the language. I knew it was coming. He was just sick and tired of being away from home and living like a pauper. I had to find a translator to just get around the area, which was not cheap. Cissie is having a conniption.

She has been in her dark moods lately. Snapping and yelling at me because she is stressed. I have taken to wandering around the city when she is like this. Trujillo is an amazing city. Known as the Capital of Everlasting Spring (literally, nice weather all year round, it’s amazing), it is one of the biggest urban centers in Peru, it is a cultural capital too. The Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Trujillo has its seat there. The city center is full of colonial and religious architecture. 

Wandering the city is probably a bad idea—you would tell me it was a bad idea. I ran into one of my acquaintances from the tour trip, I knew they had been trailing me. He dragged me into an alleyway, hissing something in a language I could not understand. But I got the idea. It was a warning. I told Cissie as soon as I could get away to the hotel. I told her that I think we should go home, but she told me that she was not finished yet, that it was not time to go home yet. I think I am crazy but I am staying just a little bit longer.

Please forgive me, I will be home soon,  
Billy

September 30th  
Dear William,

I was made a detective, after several of the older ones retired. Thank goodness for a small town. Timothy and Stephanie are back from Quantico. Cassandra did her drug bust, successfully. The whole family, including Mother, are working on the missing girls’ case. Three girls missing. I have taken to traveling around on my off-days to the secret spots that all town kids know about, especially that old shack in the woods. I took Jason with me, trying to make up for me catching the robber. The funny thing is that Mary Elizabeth tagged along, while she is in pre-med, she and Katherine, another cousin of my Father, are just as brilliant as Father in the terms of detective skills. Katherine was in the navy, but was released because of her sexual orientation, you remember that? She never got over it. Bette loved the idea of going with me and Jason to search the woods for clues. She would not stop referencing Scooby-Doo. She is just as bad as Richard with Disney movies.

Bette and Jason seemed to be like they always were, arguing like a cat and dog in a child’s cartoon would. He called her Princess and she called him Little Bird and snarked at each other throughout the night. I was so ready to ditch them both.

So remember the old shack in the woods that was said to be haunted. Well, it was knocked completely down by Hurricane Sandy, nothing was left of it. That was all.

So the second case was a mess (the one that my parents worked).

Father and Mother truly worked every possible angle. Six girls. No one saw anything. No one ever sees anything. God it was so frustrating to read all that information that my Father and my Mother gathered. I know that I may not be good enough with my skills yet, but Father and Mother are the best at what they do.

If another girl keeps kidnapped, I don’t know what the town is going to do, it’s already so tense and ready to burst at the slightest incident. I hate it. I wish I was away from all this stuff. These are the people we grew up with, these are their little sisters and I cannot freaking find them. Some sick bastard has them and it just a suckish thing.

Colin tells me that I am being too hard on myself, but I think we all are. We are supposed to protect the weak and innocent from the bad people in the world.

I wish that I would get a break in the case. I saw Nico back in town. I talked with him, asked how you were and he told me some things. I am not happy about it, but really I know that you are just staying to look after Summerly.

I am praying for you,  
Damian


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intense situations arise...including a cult

_Chapter 5_

October 3rd  
Dear Damian,

After much deliberating, I decided to go to the Trujillo police, part of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) for help. The PNP is one of the biggest police forces in South America, according to the pamphlet in the waiting area of the police station. I expected to find a typical I-don’t-care-you-crazy-American attitude at the police station and then I would get arrested or something. I really need to stop watching ridiculous movies when I get back home. I was treated decently, despite the fact that I really did not know what they were saying and they did not know what I was saying. Through mangling all languages, I managed to get to talk to the Colonel of the DININCRI (Criminal Investigations), who I will refer to as the Colonel.

The conversation between myself and the Colonel as it were went a little something like this for the first twenty minutes or so, roughly translated:

“So you are an American tourist then?”

“Yes, but I am researching for a book with another American.”

“I see. So, what interest do Americans have in Chan Chan or in Peru or Trujillo?” 

“Nothing much.”

“I see.”

It was kind of back and forth small talk for that time. He was very police and patient with me. He kind of reminded me of your Father, before he became a cranky, bitter old man. I could tell that he was trying to figure me out. Why do people find me hard to read? Maybe it is my smiling. You always said that my smiling almost constantly freaked other people out. It was only until I mentioned shady characters following me that he seemed interested. He eventually got the whole story out of me.

He told me that Cissie was on an Interpol and FBI watch list for some reason, undisclosed (as if Interpol or FBI need a reason to put you on the watch list). There are three problems that I am having according to the Colonel. The first is the fact that an international antiquities thieves are interested in me and Cissie, my boss. That can never be any good. The second is the fact that Peru is very protective of national landmarks and the like, within good reason after all, since my first problem is also Peru’s problem. The third and last problem that I did not even know existed as the rise of a local cult centering on the culture of the Moche and the Chimu, which probably had no one who were actual descendants of the said cultures (as usual). Cults were bad news. I remember in our senior year of high school, when that Old World cult of ‘gypsies’ started amongst the outcasts of our high school’s freshmen.

It took the whole school year for the seniors and juniors combined (as sophomores could care less about the freshman) to knock some sense into those idiots. Remember how offended poor Dick was about the whole thing, since he is actually Romani and all. The seniors and the juniors all earned pizza party for it, since the school district was too cheap for anything else.

Sorry, off topic, anyway, the cult which is unnamed at the moment until I can get more out of the Colonel, seemed harmless enough. Colonel told me to keep an eye on Cissie and her movements, perhaps the Interpol and FBI were right to monitor her activities (It was why she was arrested in Peru when we first arrived). He also told me to write down anything that I think would be helpful concerning anything. I thought he was being demeaning and all, but I called him (to his home phone) when I arrived at the hotel room (yes I shared with Cissie but not the same bed, geez), to find Cissie getting dressed. She was invited a party.

Here’s what the invitation said.  
‘To Cecilia Summerly  
From Your Admirers

It has come to our attention that you are interested in the culture of the Moche and the Chimu, peoples that lived in the glorious city of Chan Chan, Peru. Come and honor the Moon with us tonight at XXX XXX XXXX. Etcetera and Etcetera and so on and so forth. (I got bored of the letter so oh well). ’

Needless to say, it appealed to Cissie’s vanity and ego (because even I know that she has an ego but so do you, Dami) and she was going. So I called the Colonel and told his wife to pass on the message. The Colonel came to the hotel room while Cissie was out and asked me to let him go undercover as the new translator. Thankfully I was in charge of such things so Cissie could not question who the Colonel actually was. I called him Colonel anyway, he is a former military man anyway, so that was what we were telling Cissie. In order to go to the party, I had to get a new suit, or a used suit from the thrift shop down the street. The Colonel’s wife helped me pick everything out. She was a lovely lady, who pinches my cheeks like an old aunt in any family. I think she adopted me, she keeps giving me funny looks. She and the Colonel never had any children.

I know that this was not going to be a fun trip. I asked Colonel if he knew anything about cults in general. I filled him in from what I knew from our experience back in high school and from your psychology textbooks from college that I barely understood. Thank the Lord that I actually am a good reader and remember things quickly. The Colonel wanted the whole high school cult story, so I had to tell him mostly everything but about our strange relationship that developed that year.

A trip to the den of the cult and its leaders, what fun that will be. I will be safe since the Colonel is with me and all. 

I hope that you are having luck discovering the whereabouts of those girls. I will pray for them.  
Billy

Oct 7th  
Dear William,

Another girl went missing. ANOTHER POOR LITTLE INNOCENT BABY GIRL WENT MISSING AND IT IS DRIVING ME BLOODY CRAZY, HONESTLY, WHAT KIND OF DEPRAVED MONSTERS KEEPS TARGETTING LITTLE BABY GIRLS? Her named is Diana Moon. Yes, her name is a double meaning, double moon and all that. She was fourteen years old, just started high school, underdeveloped for her age and she had brown hair and green eyes, a first for the bad guy, usually it was girls with brown eyes. He is up to four girls. Four girls, whose families are worried sick. The town is two seconds away from starting a lynch mob.

Yes, a lynch mob. I just wrote that. I just wrote that, William. I know. Perhaps just an angry mob will get my point across, instead. Oh well. Deal with it.

I have decided to second guess my parents work on the second missing girls’ case so I am going to outline the basics of the case in this letter that you will most likely never read since you are off being an idiot with a hero complex.

THE SECOND MISSING PERSONS CASE THAT INVOLVED A SIMILAR MOTIVATION OF THE DARK HAIRED AND YOUNG GIRLS:

Victim Number 1 was Marcy Sawyer.

Description of the Victim: Marcy Sawyer was a Caucasian female of twelve years of age. She had curly brown hair and brown eyes. She was usually dressed in a pair of jeans, a superhero t-shirt, and a pair of hand-me down sneakers from her older sister. She was on the short and heavy side.

Last Seen Information: Marcy Sawyer was last seen as the park during a little league baseball game with her sixteen year old sister, who was supposed to be watching her. According to Hamilton Sawyer, the sixteen year old sister, she met up with some friends and forgot to check on her sister every twenty minutes like her mother and father always taught her to do.

Suspects: None

Victim Number 2 was Sally Everett.

Description of the Victim: Sally Everett was an African-American female of twelve years of age. She had straight black hair and big brown eyes. She was usually dressed in jeans, t-shirts and sneakers, all hand-me downs from her older brothers, all known wanna-be gang bangers (nothing but petty violence and thievery). Sally Everett was tall and lanky and average developed.

Last Seen Information: Sally was last seen at the supermarket with her mother, shopping for Sunday dinner potluck at the local Methodist church. Her mother was getting some fruit and sent Sally to get a bottle of milk only a couple of aisles away.

Suspects: Mrs. Sofie Everett, Sally’s mother, and Mr. Jefferson Everett, Sally’s father. Both were cleared by Father and Mother.

Victim Number 3 was Kelly Blaine.

Description of the Victim: Kelly Blaine was a Caucasian female of thirteen years old. She was a super-sporty type of girl. She wore sweatpants and t-shirts, and sneakers most of the time. She was an underdeveloped young girl, who was of average height.

Last Seen Information: Kelly Blaine was last seen running around the track at the park with her father and brother. Her mother died when she was a young girl. She was training for a track meet that following week. The father and brother got into an argument and took their eyes off of Kelly but only for a moment.

Suspects: None

Victim Number 4 was Echo Taylor.

Description of the Victim: Echo Taylor was an African-American girl of fourteen years old. She looked older than she was, according to those that knew her. She dressed in her Catholic school girls’ uniform, which very modest, even outside of school since she actually only had a few outfits—one for Church on Sunday, her school outfits and one for rough-housing play. She was tall and big.

Last Seen Information: She was last seen with her best friend, walking home for school. When questioned her best friend Selma Dalton, a young Irish-American girl who attended the same school as Echo, Echo went up ahead to the local convenience store to get a bottle of milk and Selma could not wait for her, so she went home without Echo. Echo never returned home.

Suspects: None

Victim Number 5 was Sunki ‘Sunny’ Jones

Description of the Victim: Sunny Jones was a young twelve year old Native American descendant from a big family of three brothers and three sisters and both sets of grandparents, along with their parents. She had black hair and brown eyes. She was on the short and chubby side. She dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, along with sneakers. She carried a Nanta bag.

Last Seen Information: Sunny Jones was last seen at Church with her family at the Sunday potluck dinner. She got lost in the crowd (like a victim in the first case).

Suspects: None really, all her family was cleared first thing.

Victim Number 6 was Forever Grant.

Description of the Victim: Forever Grant was an African-American girl of thirteen years of age. She was short, but lanky for her age. She looked younger than her thirteen years. She dressed in pretty flowing skirts, according to the notes I read, along with proper blouses. She wore shoes. She looked dressed for Sunday Mass every day, according to the papers I am reading.

Last Seen Information: She was last seen at the park being harassed by some boys for dressing like a nun, according to one of the said boys that were picking on her. Forever Grant decked one of them with a right and then ran away. That was the last time that she was ever seen. Her mother called the missing persons report in.

Suspects: The boys that were harassing her, but they were cleared rather quickly.

Mother’s Conclusions: Mother concluded that the person or persons involved in this case of kidnapping the girls obviously knew town history well to provoke the populace. Also, the cases, despite striking a resemblance, do not seem to be connected. All girls were never found, assumed dead after one month, when the next girl was taken.

Father’s Conclusions: Father concluded that the person, a male between 25-45 years old, was either the son or relative of the original perpetrator of the first case years before and was relieving a family tradition or the like.

My Conclusions: My conclusion is that I think it may be a female perpetrator, because there were no signs of violence as girls are most likely to trust a female stranger over a male stranger. As for the connection to the first case, it may be possible but there is no evidence to suggest that it was related or not.

I have a headache now, my brain and heart hurts, William. I am sad. Alfie the Cat will not hug me. I demand you come home and help me care for our cat.  
Damian

October 15th  
Dear My Love,

So the other night, the Colonel, Cissie and Myself attended a cult meeting. That sounded strange even in my head. And it looks weirder on paper. The cult meeting went like this. We arrived around eight o’clock at night. We, although the Colonel used an alternate identity, signed it with the front desk (weird am I right?). We even got name tags. A cult gave me a name tag. I tried not to laugh in their faces. Cissie was thrilled with her name tag, which said the Genius writer, Cecilia Summerly. Sometimes, she is just so predictable. I could not believe that she was falling for the praise. A classic tactic used by cults to make one feel loved and appreciated. After signing in and getting our name tags, we were taken to a refreshment area. 

Naturally, I headed your advice. I did not eat anything, despite it smelling amazing. The Colonel had my back and made me avoid the tables of food. Cissie ate and drank to her heart’s content. She was always a big eater. I liked that about her. I was worried that it was laced with something, maybe a drug or something. But trying to warn Cissie about danger was like trying to wrangle drug-addled raccoons. The Colonel kept giving me pity looks. Cissie was too busy paying attention to all the admirers than to listen to me, her oldest friend. After everyone ate, we were herded into an auditorium, like high school again it was so weird, and waited in darkness and creepy silence. It was way overtly dramatic and totally unnecessary. But it was a cult. The whole thing is totally unnecessary.

Then the lights flickered. A man dressed, why is always a man that had to be the cult leader, female cult leaders were rare in deed, in a silvery robe sets, like something out of the Vatican (those guys do not have any style and we know it) or heaven forbid, Harry Potter and the halls of Hogwarts. Dumbledore would have rocked these silver robes. Yes, HP references, oh how the mighty has fallen, Dami. My life is sad, is it not?

The Colonel whispered translations to me and Cissie.

This was what the cult leader said, “Welcome, honored friends and guests, especially our writer friend Cissie Summerly and her assistants. Tonight we come to honor not only the Moon like our founders once did but also the acquisition of new compatriots in the battle against the Sun and its evil minions.” I nearly burst out laughing but a stern look from the Colonel and a glare from Cissie shut me up. This was just too ridiculous, lie something out of a bad movie and this was my life now, just to look after Cissie. Seriously, maybe she is not worth it anymore? She is a big girl after all and she can take care of herself, mostly, for the most part. Okay, okay, I am not going to leave her when she is acting like an idiot. You call me an idiot, but only out of love. I called her an idiot out of worry that she is going to get herself (or me) killed with stupidity. Would that not just be ironic? I tuned out what he was saying, only to be updated on the idea of it from the Colonel.

Unfortunately, I saw my friends from the tour boat there as well. So they were connected? Wonderful. I wonder who was working for who. I told the Colonel and he told me to write copies of the descriptions of the criminals in detail. So I wrote one copy for the Colonel’s notes that may or may not get lost, one for the Colonel’s wife, one for myself and I am sending descriptions to you just to be safe.

Bad Guy Number 1- He is a heavy set man, maybe slightly overweight, with black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, he looks Hispanic, I think it is a too general description, but the Colonel said it was okay. He’s like 5’7” or something. He dressed differently all the time, so nothing the same. No features that can be helpful. He is average looking.

Bad Guy Number 2- She is a slim, sickly looking, black haired and brown eyes woman, she has dark skin, could be from African or African American, I have not heard speak. She dresses very conservative, every time I saw her. She is probably in her fifties or so.

Bad Guy Number 3- She is a bulky looking brown haired and brown eyes woman, Caucasian. Nothing too surprising about her. 

Bad Guy Number 4- She is a tall and fierce looking African or African-American woman with black hair and brown eyes. She dresses in various clothes.

Bad Guy Number 5- The last woman looks to be Native American, either from somewhere in South, Central or North American. There are too many to be certain, or she could be Asian somewhere. The leader. Black hair and Brown eyes, not too tall nor too short and she is neither fat nor skinny.

They were all chosen probably because they were unremarkable. It is annoying.

It feels like I entered a damned novel of my own making,  
Billy


End file.
